Southeast volleyball heated up to defeat Eastern Illinois

The Southeast Missouri State’s volleyball team ended its 16-game losing streak on Sept. 30 by earning its first Ohio Valley Conference win at home against Eastern Illinois in three straight sets.

“We executed things on our side really well. We passed very well, which put us in system to run our offense,” coach Julie Yankus said. “Also, the biggest thing for us, we had more than one hot hitter. We had a couple of hitters that really played very, very well, and that’s what helped us.”

Yankus has experimented with the lineup this year and found it successful going into this game.

“We tried a different lineup. Put some people in different positions. We had some different subs go into the back row,” Yankus said. “That’s really been the struggle this season, is trying to figure out the right combination of players that are gonna help us be successful.”

On getting the win, Yankus remembered the team being upbeat about it.

“It was a great feeling,” Yankus said. “I think the team in general enjoyed it. They were excited, but also kind of had that big sigh of relief.”

Yankus mentioned there was some tension trying to get the win, but competing at home helped that tension.

“As the tension builds up a little bit with the team, it just gets tougher and tougher to get that win,” Yankus said. “With us being at home, we had a great crowd Friday night that helped as well. I think the team was really excited to be back home at Houck for a conference match.”

Following the match Yankus told her players to appreciate the win and what it meant.

“Enjoy the victory and remember that feeling, what it feels like to play very well and of course get the result that you want,” Yankus said.

Junior outside hitter Krissa Gearring thought the win helped build confidence for everyone on the team.

“I think it was a huge confidence booster,” Gearring said. “We played really well and it really came all from the practices we had. We worked on specific things in order to be successful. It was a good win for us.”

Gearring, who had 17 kills, tied for most on the team with 14 kills and 1 block, said the team had a lot of confidence beforehand as well.

“We went into that half really confident,” Gearring said. “We went into the locker room, talking about what we still needed to work on in order to finish the game. Energy was still up from last set. We were really focused.”

Even though the losing streak is behind the team after losing to SIUE and UT Martin on Oct. 1 and Oct. 4 respectively. Yankus said it was difficult for the team to keep it off of their minds.

“The mental side is very challenging, and that’s for all athletes I think,” Yankus said. “We’ve gone through that this year where I keep talking about ‘We need to play with confidence and we’ll play well and get wins.’”

As for the rest of the season, Yankus isn’t sure about the standings thus far.

“It really is gonna be anyone’s league,” Yankus said. “Every year, the OVC is very challenging from top to bottom and this year will not be different.”

Yankus is reminding the players of this thought as well.

“We focus on that every day,” Yankus said. “It’s not always gonna be perfect, we may not be undefeated, but I don’t believe that anyone in conference is gonna go undefeated.”

Going forward into the conference schedule the Redhawks, with a 2-18 record and a 1-5 record in conference play, have two games against Belmont at 6:30 p.m. on Friday night and Tennessee State at 2 p.m. Saturday at Houck.